Rourkela: Speculation is rife over former lawmaker Dilip Ray’s letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia seeking development for the airport here. Ray’s latest letter on public issues has the rumour mills rolling.
The last time he wrote a letter on public issues was in 2014 after which he contested the Assembly elections in the state and won on a BJP ticket. Hence people are contemplating as to whether the former Union Minister will again return to politics.
Ray, who owns a hotel chain, had the latest branch opening November 7 in Jharsuguda. All the eminent politicians cutting across party lines attended the function. The programme which went on for three days attracted a lot of attention.
The main topic of discussion since then has been whether Ray is contemplating a return to politics. Ray had defeated BJD heavyweight Sarada Nayak when he last contested the Assembly elections in 2014.
However, this time the BJD workers here are not worried in case Ray decides to contest on a BJP ticket. They asserted that this time the BJD is ready for Ray and he will be in for a huge shock if he contests again.
However, the matter does not end there. There is also speculation that he may return to the BJD and contest from the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat. Political analysts are not ruling out such a development.
“It is highly unlikely that he will contest the Assembly elections in the state. The Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency looks suitable for him given his stature in national-level politics,” said an analyst who has followed Ray’s career closely.
However, all this is pure conjecture at the moment as Ray always keeps cards close to his chest and never reveals his plans, sources added. In his letter to the Aviation Minister, Ray has sought the installations of the instrument landing system (ILS), the very high-frequency omnidirectional range (VOR) and elevating Rourkela airport’s status from 2-C to 3-C.
He has pointed out that ‘in the absence of the ILS and VOR system’, modern aircraft find it very difficult to land at the airport.
PNN